Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-04-20
NURSERY RHYMES. 1
THE PROBABLE ORIGIN OF MOTHER
GOOSE'S MELODIES" ,

SOOSE'S 5 MELODIES.
Little JACK h"rh@r >'"""f"hs An"
the GLASS ~npp-r''-"B Blue Heard"
..wb,,,i,vtou and Hi, ,.t"-..Ths
A CORRESPONDENT has askei for the origin OF
Mother Goose's Melodies hay, psii some
attention to the subject and am satisfied that
the most of them originated with Elizabeth
Foster who became the second wife Of Mr.
Isaac VeryooSe Her daughter married
Thomas Fleet, who in I7l5 established a
printing house in Pudding lane, Boston IL
WAS for the amusement of his children (har
grandchildren that she chanted her pleasing
ditties Mr. Fleet, her sou-in law issued the
rhymes III a book which met with wonder
full sale Mr. Newell hpots at this story and
talks in a bewilderingly learned way; SAYS
they are SYNONYMS Of French tales, dating as
far back a the time OF Charlemagne and Ru-
,iolf of Burgundy He quotes Perraults vol
ume of tales published in l69s and entitled
"Contes lie ms mere rove" and the writings
of the satiris, Resuier, who lived a century
before Perrault. Mr.. Newell doesn't present
much proof Of his assertion, and to give it
here would not he of much importance
IL might surprise you Were 10 tell you that
many of the rhymes and incidents in fiction
had a haripan Of facts for their foundation.
| have only space to call attention 20 a few
Take for instance tine familiar nursery rhyme
OF Little Jack Horner." There are several
versions of the story upon which it is founded.
One version is that the abbot of glastonbury
had offended Henry VII by building his
kitchen Substantially that the ds-Stroyers Of
the nionasterie> We're unah. {" throw it down
In a rage the king sent for the abbot, who,
hoping % appeaSe the monarch, sent to him
the steward, JOnn Horner, with a wonderful
pie, the interior Of which was composed of the
title deeds of twelve manors. But as John
Horner sat in the corner of the wagon that
carried him to the king he was induced by
curiosity Ia hit the crust AMI To abstract
therefrom title deei. which on his safe re-
turn home he showed 10 the abbot and tcld
him that the king had given If To him for -
reward Tie deed was that Of the manor of
Wells The second version of the story
changes the ~,,ene to Wells and the steward 10
Col Horner aud the king hangs the abbot.
The third version changes Wells TO Mell> and
the colonel to IA couutry lad
Why even the story of cinderella and the
Glass Shipper" dates back t" classic times. Bur
ton III his Anatomy OF Melancholy quote
from Elan a fahulou, incident upon which
the story of Cinderella was undoubtedly
founded "Rudolphe WAS the faire,t lady in
her days in all Egypt. She went To wash her,
and by chance ,ier maids meanwhile looked
but carees>Iy to her clothes all eagle stole
away one of her shoe, and laid it IN the lap Of
Psammeticus, the king Of Egypt, at Mem
phis He wondered at the eScelency OF the
shoe and pretty foot, but more aquiIle fac.
tum ,at the deed of the gle at the manner Of
the bringing of 1t, and caused forthwith proc
Iamation to b, made that she that ov ned tha,
shoe should come presently TO his court The
virgin came aud was forthwith married to
the king" Now it did not require much in,
ventive genius to change the story little
bring in the yodmother. the rats and tine
pumpkins, tue bail, the stroke Of twelve, the
flight the naughty sisters. the advent Of The
couriers the wor>nipfulneSs Of the prince and
all that
Perrault, the author of Blue Beard
founded hi> story on the history of rea
person The original WAS Giles de Retz, lorG |
of Laval, who was made marshal Of France
in l4.9 He WAS born in l4s. aud fought
under the command Of joan OF Are. II. .
ilVet IKE KING III MS 'a,tlr, hau suarU oi
honor. fifty choristers. musicians. etc. anc 4
squsniere~i his substance in riotru> living .
Then ne took TO studying sorcrrv and mage I
He d-coyed little boys and girls into his cas
tie, AMI there Inundated them with Pagan
rites On Oct. ~. l44o then being - YEAR
old, he wss burned IN the city OF Nantes, II
The presence of vast multitude. The rec
ords of his trial. which lasted month N,
preserved among tue manuscripts Of the pub
lie library III PariS. In one of his castles III,
bones of forty six and another of eighty
children were found Marshal de Retz wa:
certainly the type Of PefTauit's story IN hi
lifat,tna Ia Was Lu,v,, hv rna Snbt.;nn.t al {